


atonement

by hyerewolf



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Magic, Rituals, Shadow of the Colossus AU, deals with deities with questionable motives, hyejoo has a sword what else do you want really, no one asked for it and yet i'm doing it anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2020-07-29 09:47:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20080174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyerewolf/pseuds/hyerewolf
Summary: A deal with an ancient god, a cursed and abandoned land, an old sword with vaguely magical powers.What wouldn't you do in the name of love?





	1. the dangerous deal

**Author's Note:**

> me: (points at a slightly obscure movie/video game) is this a loona au
> 
> if you played the game, you can easily see where this story is going (though i will make some alterations because the life can't be too easy). if you haven't - i highly recommend you do, but for now you can just sit back and enjoy.

A black, sturdy horse carrying a rider on its back came out from the thick undergrowth of the green forest, its hooves clapping regularly on the remnants of a once great cobbled road. It was now overgrown, the nature reclaiming the ground bit by bit, green grass blades sticking out between the stones and roots of the trees trying to overturn the creation of a long-gone civilisation, make it a part of the forest again.

A similar fate met the wall at the end of the path, marking the end of this land and the beginning another, hostile one. Its once intricate decorative reliefs, full of ancient symbols and strange letters of a long-forgotten language, were now chipped and overgrown with moss, all the way up to two spires guarding the passage. The lookouts were gone, heaps of debris all that was left of them now, unrecognizable. Despite the passing of time and the stone crumbling away in more than a few places, the wall still looked powerful; a bold statement, the last warning for anyone daring to come this close to the border of the forbidden lands.

The road ahead, however, was wide open, full of light and promise, nothing like the stories have described.

The horse stopped at the entryway and neighed nervously, shaking its head. The sudden halt made the cloaked rider on its back snap out of an almost comatose-like state. She almost mechanically leaned forward and patted the horse's neck to calm it down. "Shh. There, girl. It's okay, Luna."

The rider rubbed her eyes with her right hand, left supporting a large bundle of blankets thrown across her lap and braced against her shoulder. A tired sigh escaped her lips. She was exhausted. It's been almost two weeks since she started the journey - or maybe just a couple of days? She didn't know anymore, she's lost the sense of time long ago. What mattered was that finally, the expedition was coming to an end. She struck her heels into the horse's sides.

She expected _something_ to happen once she crossed the border, but there was nothing - no lightnings striking her, no angry ancestors, no ghosts telling her to pay with her life for arriving at the forbidden place. This was somehow worse than any kind of reaction and made an uneasy feeling settle in her stomach.

"Almost," she whispered to herself, looking straight ahead, at the land before her. There was an old stone bridge running in a straight line torwards a silhouette of a tower on the horizon. In a stark contrast to the forest she's just left behind her, the valley beneath the bridge was covered in sand dunes, surrounded by steep cliffs, their slopes grooved by the grains of sand carried by the strong wind.

A crow glided high above the rider's head. It cawed and flew further into the land beyond the bridge. The rider struck her heels into the horse's sides and the animal, though reluctantly, entered the overpass, its hooves clapping against the stone surface. Just like the wall behind, the bridge wasn't spared by the passing years - in several places the stones it was made of were cracked, and almost halfway through there was a large breach on one of the sides. The rider had to calm the horse down again to get past it.

Slowly, the high stone tower-like structure at the end of the bridge became more detailed and imposing, towering above the mostly flat landscape around it. Its jagged peak suggested that a long time ago, in its peak greatness, it was even higher and grander, but the merciless years took their toll on the stone and splices, causing some of the building to cave in and fall. The surface of the tower, decorated with the same symbols and writings as the border wall, was mostly covered in vines, while some persistent tufts of dry grass managed to sprout from between the stone plates in front of the entrance.

Solid stone door slid up when the horse stepped closer, a wisp of cold wind coming from the dark stairwell. The rider shivered, but made the horse enter the building. The stone slab slid back into its place as soon as they entered, submerging the stairwell in darkness and the rider in unease.

After a while the corridor ended, leading the rider and her horse out on a shelf in a large circular room, looking a lot like a well, with a hole in the ceiling and a round pond on the floor. The only way further was a narrow ledge running downwards along the wall. The sound of hooves tapping on stone echoed quietly as the rider led the animal further down.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the well, where a large doorway opened up to another room, much grander and well-lit than the one before, with its furthest side completely open, save for several columns. Along the two remaining walls, forming a corridor of sorts in the middle, stood sixteen stone sculptures, eight at each side of the room. All of them were decorated with intricate carvings, representing bizarre creatures the rider has never seen before, stylized in a way she was completely unfamiliar with. She looked at them in wonder as the horse carried her to the end of the room, where a stone altar was placed on a platform.

The rider stopped the horse under a round skylight and jumped off its back, cautious not to knock off the bundle she's been holding the entire time. She picked it up carefully and carried it to the altar, where she laid it down with the utmost care, as if it was made of dandelion puff and gossamer. Delicately, she unwrapped the blanket, revealing a body of a blonde-haired girl.

From the other side of the room came a swooshing sound, making the rider turn around in suspicion. Several humanoid creatures, looking like they were made out of pure, crawling darkness, rose up from the stone floor and started slowly making their way to the altair. The horse neighed, alarmed. It tottered in place, shaking its head.

With a trembling hand, the rider reached to her belt and unsheathed a sword she had tied there. She pointed the tip of the blade in the direction of the shadow figures.

Faint glow appeared around the sword, as if the metal gathered and directed the sunlight. The shadow figures stumbled and stopped. With a hiss, they dispersed like smoke in the wind.

"Dormin! Are you there?" The rider shouted once the apparitions were gone. For a moment, nothing happened, and she started to lose hope. Was all of this effort for nothing?

Then, a ray of light fell down from the skylight in the roof of the altar room, and two voices, a male and a female one, spoke at the same time, the echo booming around the room. "Hm? You possess the ancient sword? So you're a mortal..."

The rider gripped the weapon tighter, until her knuckles whitened. The blade glistened faintly despite the shadow falling on it. Did this foreign, ancient god know how she came to own the sword? A chill ran down her spine, but she stood tall, trying her best not to show how scared she was.

She gathered all her courage and spoke. "I'm Hyejoo, the best warrior in my tribe," she said, looking up to the ceiling, hoping to see any sign of the god's presence, but to no avail. "Are you Dormin?"

"We are indeed the one they call Dormin. What do you want from us?" There was a note of _something_ in the voices, but it was hard to tell if he was angry at the girl for disturbing the peace. Maybe just curious. Maybe just amused.

"They say in this land exists a being that has the power to bring back souls from the afterlife," Hyejoo called into the empty space of the room, her voice not nearly as loud and overpowering as the one spilling from the sky. "Please... I need you to do that."

Hyejoo felt the god's attention shift, as if she was being watched by someone up until now. She knew the deity was now assessing the girl on the altar. She took two steps back, as if her frame was enough to shield the girl from the omnipresent being. 

"She was sacrificed because the shaman of our tribe believed her fate was cursed. Can you please bring her back to me?" Hyejoo almost winced at the desperation that creeped into her tone, and the god must've heard it as well.

"You want this maiden's soul back?" asked Dormin, chuckling. A gentle breeze flew around the room, moving a strand of the unconscious girl's hair. The clouds on the horizon shifted gently and a single sunbeam illuminated the calm, stone-like face. She looked almost like she was just sleeping, and Hyejoo's heart ached at that thought.

"Everything has its price, young warrior. The souls once lost cannot be reclaimed again with ease. That's the law of the mortals," the god spoke again, somewhat pensive. The beam of light vanished, the sun covered by the clouds again.

Hyejoo's heart sank. She's feared that this would be the answer she'd hear, but she knew it was inevitable. Still, she had to try. "What do I need to do, then?"

"There's little you _can_ do, human." Hyejoo swore she could hear the faintest trace of amusement in the god's voice. She felt his attention focus on her again, as if she was a piece of livestock about to be auctioned off at a market. "But that sword of yours... It's been a while since we saw the blade of light... Maybe there is a thing."

The girl's eyes widened. She took a step forward. "What is it?"

"There are sixteen idols in this hall, each one representing a colossus - a giant beast of stone and flesh inhabiting in these lands. Destroy all of thoseidols by slaying the giants they incarnate and your maiden's soul will be returned to you."

"I understand." Hyejoo gripped the sword tighter again, filled with new determination.

"But remember, the price you pay may be heavy indeed."

"It doesn't matter."

"Very well." The god's attention lifted from Hyejoo again, and she felt the god was vanishing, falling dormant again. Her heart started beating faster, she still had so many questions.

"Wait! How can I find those colossi?" 

"Raise the sacred blade, young warrior, and head to the places where the light gathers. Now, be on your way." 

The sunbeam from the ceiling faded out completely, the god's presence now gone. Luna whined, tapping her hoof against the floor. Hyejoo sighed, only now letting herself relax the muscles she didn't even know were tense. She sheathed the blade, turning back to the stone altar. The dead girl's cheek was cold under Hyejoo's fingertips when she cradled it gently. 

"I'll bring you back, Chaewon, just as I promised."


	2. the first foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long, i have no excuse except for the fact that i hate writing descriptions and this fic has more of those than i initially imagined it would oops

_Now, be on your way. _Easier said than done.

Leaving Chaewon alone was more difficult than Hyejoo has expected, it filled her to the brim with dread.

According to all the legends she's heard and the few surviving texts about the forbidden lands, no humans have lived there for more seasons than anyone could ever count. Thinking about it made Hyejoo simultaneously calm and more anxious than before, as she realized the shadow figures she's drove away were something definitely non-human. A cold shiver ran down her spine at that thought.

_Of course they weren't human_, she thought, the voice in her head eerily similar to Chaewon's, the sentence almost ending with a laughter sounding like silver bells in the wind. 

Luna neighed quietly, pulling Hyejoo out of the downward spiral her thoughts started following. The horse shook its head, making Hyejoo feel like it could read her mind. She felt the flush of embarrassment crawl onto her cheeks.

"Right. We need to hurry, the sun won't be out forever."

Once again, she checked the straps of her quiver and the sheath at her hip, making sure the sword that she still wasn't used to slid in and out of it smoothly. There was nothing left to do. She turned back to the stone altar again.

"I'll be back soon, Chae," she said, squeezing the dead girl's hand, trying to ignore how stiff it felt under her fingers.

* * *

She knew the forbidden lands were big, but their magnitude hit her only when she stepped out of the shrine and down the ruined stone steps, carefully leading Luna by the reins. She took in the vast area ahead of her, mostly flat and grassy, with steep cliffs shrouding the horizon and sharp rocks scattered around.

Once the soles of her shoes hit the grass, she let go of Luna and pulled out the sword, once again remembering Dormin's words. The sunlight seemed to gather on the sharp blade, dancing on it like flames. Hyejoo raised her arm and a straight ray of light formed like an arrow's path in the air, pointing where she supposedly had to go. The glow was telling her to go straight ahead, further south.

She sheathed the sword with a sigh. Luna stood calmly as Hyejoo got on her back, a calming presence the young warrior was grateful for. She nudged the horse's sides with her heels.

The wind whistled in her ears and ruffled her hair as Luna galloped ahead, with each beat of the hooves coming closer to the cliff that seemed to close off the plateau from this side. Holding the reins with her left hand, she raised the sword again, like one would check a map whenever they felt unsure. The beam was fainter here, since the shadows of the cliffs didn't allow as much sunlight to reach the blade, but the directions were clear - straight ahead.

Hyejoo gathered up the reins and made Luna slow down, looking along the steep stone slope for a good place to climb up. Soon enough a perfect place came into view - a nook in the cliff, remnants of stairs leading up to it, crooked remains of a column propped up against the wall on the left. She directed Luna torwards the place, and to her surprise, deeper in the crevice were ledges and columns craved straight out of the cliff; exactly the kind of easy way up she was looking for.

Hyejoo jumped off of Luna's back, pat the horse's neck, and took her bow from where she swung it over the saddle earlier. Luna neighed, but showed no signs of distress, reaching down to the yellowed grass to graze on it. The warrior took it as a good sign, knowing that her companion would warn her about any kind of danger around them.

She approached the lowest hanging ledge while stretching her arms and shoulders, trying to determine the best possible way up. It didn't seem that difficult, no more of a challenge than the trees and hills she used to climb for fun in her childhood days. The only setback was that she had no idea if any of the stone constructions would bear her weight, but there was no other way of checking that than risking it all.

With a grunt, she pulled herself up onto the vine-covered ledge, praying to gods to keep her safe. 

Everything was fine.

She let out the breath she didn't notice she was holding and prepared herself for a long way up.

After some more climbing, both on vines and stone bricks, accompanied by a few jumps, walking on very unstable looking planks, and crawling under a toppled over column, Hyejoo's finally reached the top of the cliff, her breathing only slightly out of ordinary. She rubbed her hands together in an attempt to lessen the pain of the abrasions on her fingers and began carefully walking torwards the opening between the stone walls of the valley, when the ground shook, almost making her fall, the air filled with a rumble.

Far below, Luna's anxious neigh could be heard, but Hyejoo paid it no mind, her attention fully focused on the creature that was slowly coming into the view, the steps of its hoof-like feet shaking the ground and damaging the terrain it was walking on.

Hyejoo was, in a way, used to feeling small - she used to be a fearful child, always hiding behind her parents or trying to make herself invisible. Even after her growth spurt, she was still shorter than most men in the tribe, which caused some controversies when she was chosen to be one of the warriors. Yet, the size of this beast made her feel infinitesimal.

Taller than any tree she has ever seen, than the defense towers of her village, even if they were stacked on top of each other, the creature moved at a steady pace, yet without a rush. Its body was disproportionate, with short, stocky legs similar to those of a goat, ended with a round hoof, and a wide torso. Its arms were so long they almost reached the ground, and on the broad, muscular neck sat a small head, the face hidden from Hyejoo's view by the angle. The monster's skin was gray and cracked, making him similar to a stone sculpture, and there were some fixtures - like ledges protruding out of its back or capitals of columns around his wrists - that only made the resemblance greater. As the beast walked, the moss-like fur covering its back and legs flowed in the wind.

Hyejoo unsheathed her sword with a trembling hand. What seemed like a clear objective just moments before, now turned into a suicide mission. 

She shook her head. Worrying led to overthinking led to being distracted led to failure. _Focus, Hyejoo._

Before she could start analyzing the hopelessness of her conditions, her feet hit the ground and she ran, her bow and quiver bouncing on her back, straight torwards the colossus, which has already started to walk away from where she was standing.

She didn't have any kind of a plan, any clue on what to do and how to take such a humongous creature down, but one takes shape once sunbeams hit the sword in her hand. Rays of light, similar to those that showed her the way here, reached the giant and suddenly spots on its calf and on top of its head lit up light blue.

The targets.

She finally caught up with the walking giant, stumbling whenever a huge foot hit the ground again. Without thinking about it, she ran up to the marked leg and grabbed onto the moss-like fur with all her might. 

And then, when she thought that it was almost too easy, the colossus seemed to finally notice her.

With a low grunt, the beast raised its leg from the ground, balancing on the other and supporting itself with a club it was holding in its hand, it shook its hoof in an attempt to throw Hyejoo off. The young warrior dug her fingers further into its fur, holding tighter than before. The creature made a sound again, upset with the lack of any results. It decided to change the strategy, now trying to stomp hard enough instead of just shaking its leg.

Hyejoo wasn't about to allow it to just wave her around like a doll. With the first opportunity, she struck the bright blue marking right in the middle with the sword. It made an unpleasant sound, like it was being wedged between rocks, but went in almost surprisingly smoothly. The giant, losing the balance, fell forward, giving the warrior an opportunity to climb futher up its body.

She didn't waste a second, scaling up the leg and then higher, once again grabbing on the fur, to reach one of the ledges sticking out of the colossus' back like remains of a building from a pile of rubble. The beast roared again, waving its hand, yet couldn't reach the girl pressed tightly against its back. Confused, it made a couple steps forward.

The warrior, with her heart beating fast from both exertion and fear, once more dig her fingers deep into the shaggy fur and began a taxing climb up, torwards the head and the second target. The creature still roared and shook its whole body, desperately trying to get rid of the critter that was causing it so much discomfort, probably the most it has ever felt in its entire life.

Passing by the spikes of the spine, Hyejoo finally reached her destination. She ran up the broad neck and fell to her knees on the flat top of the giant's head, not caring anymore about the abrasions on her palms.

The target, bright blue and clearly visible, looked almost mockingly familiar - it was the same seal of safety and protection she was wearing proudly embroidered on her tunic. 

She raised her sword and stabbed the giant right in the middle of the seal.

The beast let out a dreadful roar, echoed by the walls of the valley around.

Hyejoo pulld out her sword and a black liquid sprang out of the wound, like water from a geyser, before spilling down the colossi's face. It shook its head violently and Hyejoo felt the wet fur slip out from her weakened grasp.

In the last moment, she managed to catch onto the patch of fur right next to a stone stump on the beast's temple, which might have once been where a horn, now broken off, was. Breathing heavily, she clung onto the strands, felt her fingers giving up. She looked around, trying to find something to hold onto, but instead she glanced straight into the giant's eye.

Its face looked like a mask made out of stone and resembled that of a bull, with a long nose bridge and large nostrils on its square end. The eyes, one of which was now directed right at Hyejoo, were perfectly round, burning bright orange and unmoving, with a tiny pupil in the middle. The flurry of fire around it was almost hypnotizing.

Forcing herself to look away, Hyejoo tried to pull herself up higher, reaching blindly for the next clump of fur, hoping this one wasn't soaked by the black blood of the giant. Her arms screamed from the effort, and she knew she had to finish this fight quickly to avoid being shaken off and falling down to her death.

One grasp at the time, she managed to get back on the top of the giant's head. She didn't hesitate this time, ramming the blade right into the sigil's center, up to the handle, and then again and again, stabbing furiously with all the might still left in her weakened arms.

The beast cried out, black blood dripping down its face and drowning its angry eyes. It shook with convulsion, lost its balance, and collapsed, falling on its knees first.

The dust slowly settled around the giant body. Hyejoo, covered from head to toe in black liquid, carefully slipped down from where she was laying flat on the colossus' head, and made a couple of steps forward on her shaking legs. Most of her muscles were trembling, her breathing heavy.

She didn't even notice black tendrils sprouting out of the now murky seal on the beast's head, or black smoke that creeped over the whole of its lifeless form. Only when she caught something moving in the corner of her eye, she turned around. 

And immediately regretted it.

As if the tentacles only now noticed her presence, all of them turned into her direction. Everything seemed to stand still for a heartbeat, and then Hyejoo turned on her heel and ran as fast as she could.

The tendrils chased her, but not for long - they were faster than she could ever be, especially in this state. They reached her in an instance and she tumbled, because suddenly there was a sharp pain in her muscles, as if a dozen of glowing hot spears were piercing through her skin, precisely between her ribs, aiming straight at the very core of her being.

Right before her eyes - or maybe right behind them? - was a flash of black so deep Hyejoo felt like she was drowning in it.

* * *

"Come on now, Hyejoo. It's okay, see?"

She feels her father's strong, calloused hand pat her head. Still holding tightly onto his leg, just in case, she opens her eyes which she kept unintentionally shut closed since she ran to hide behind her father to avoid getting noticed by the visitor. She looks up, still feeling scared of the man.

The stranger is almost as tall as her father, though of a stockier build, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He's dressed in a brightly coloured tunic with rich embroidery and strands of beads that rattle with his every move. His chest is adorned with a bright blue sigil, a sign Hyejoo recognizes from those few tribe ceremonies she was allowed to witness so far in her short life. Come to think of it, the man himself looks vaguely familiar, and she has a feeling he must be someone important.

What catches Hyejoo's interest the most, however, is a young girl around her age, definitely not older than five summers, standing right next to the man, holding his hand with her small one. Her dress, made from a pale fabric, with nice patterns sewn onto it with colorful threads, is far prettier than Hyejoo's brown and simple tunic and baggy pants. The girl's fair, wavy hair - a complete opposite of Hyejoo's straight and dark strands - only highlights the contrast between them. The girl's smiling at her. 

Hyejoo's curiosity overpowers her desire to be swallowed up by the ground and she makes a step sideways, her eyes wide, trying to take in everything that was so different about this strange girl. 

"Hyejoo, why won't you go and show Chaewon the stables? Her father and I have a lot to talk about."

Hyejoo nods solemnly despite an ice cube of anxiety growing in her stomach. She's an obedient child, and if her father tells her to do something, she will.

So she lets go of her father's leg, and reaches out with a shaking hand torwards the girl with blonde locks, who smiles brighter in response. She lets go of her father and grabs Hyejoo's small palm.

They walk torwards the stables without a word, but Hyejoo feels oddly comfortable in the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm gonna run out of the synonyms for "big" like 8 times before this fic reaches the end, bet.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter/curiouscat: @bbywolfs
> 
> (slides away)


End file.
